23rd July 2013, 10:41 PM
Hyperdimension Neptunia 1-2 - Overall, this was disappointing. I haven't played the games since I don't have a PS3, but I like the concept of videogame consoles turned into characters; it's a great idea. However, the show just isn't that great; it's creepy, disturbing at times, and nothing above average. If you want a good show about girls and fighting and stuff, watch Senran Kagura, not this junk. I'll keep watching it for now... but I expect I'll probably drop this, unless its quality starts improving, a lot, and the super-creepy elements stop.
The character designs are decently good though, apart from one thing. I find Neptune's color scheme odd, though, because the Genesis and/or 32X never had a purple colorscheme anywhere. Black makes sense (the systems were black after all), but... why purple? In the US and Japan the 32X's theme color was yellow. In Europe it was a blue and black design with some yellow highlights. The Genesis was black or red in the US and Europe, and blue (with a yellow information box) in Japan. No purple anywhere. I guess the idea was "feminine color for our heroine", but apart from Neptune and Nepgear, all of the other characters have color schemes that fit their consoles... but not Sega's, and they're the main characters (Neptune and her younger sister Nepgear). And on that note, yeah, Nepgear probably looks even less like a Game Gear than Neptune does a Sega Neptune, 32X, or Genesis (the Neptune being a 32X/Genesis hybrid system that was never released, of course).
I know, most people don't care about this one bit, but darnit, if you're trying to do videogame consoles as characters, and you've got some degree of accuracy in all of your other designs, including black for Sony (obviously), white for Nintendo (fitting for the post Wii/DS-era Nintendo of the show), and green for Microsoft... but Sega being purple is just stupid. Sure, it goes well with black, Neptune's other main color, but it's not a Sega theme color! It's annoying.
Oh yeah, and where's the Sega CD? Is that a character too?
Apart from that minor quibble, my actual main complaint about the show is about the incredibly creepy nature of some plot elements in both episodes so far. Both elements have some pseudo-rape elements to them. In the first episode, Neptune and Nepgear, along with two other minor characters (videogame company-based), get attacked by an army of slimes. They fight most of them off, but get overwhelmed, and before one of the minor characters kills all the slimes, there's some requisite "girls getting covered in slime" stuff. Then in episode two, a villain kidnaps Rom and Ram, aka the young twin girls who represent the Nintendo DS, and starts picking them up (clothed) and licking them with a long tongue, saying how young girls are the best, etc, etc. It's really, really messed up stuff. Any much more of THAT and I'm through with this series.
Even if I was to ignore that element of the show, though, which I can't, this still isn't anything that reaches average. The characters are bland and generic, the stories are average, the main character is your usual "kind of stupid but competent when it matters" lead type that I've never liked very much, etc etc. So yeah, this show is a disappointment. I'm only still watching because of the whole "videogame consoles as characters" thing, considering how much I love games.
The character designs are decently good though, apart from one thing. I find Neptune's color scheme odd, though, because the Genesis and/or 32X never had a purple colorscheme anywhere. Black makes sense (the systems were black after all), but... why purple? In the US and Japan the 32X's theme color was yellow. In Europe it was a blue and black design with some yellow highlights. The Genesis was black or red in the US and Europe, and blue (with a yellow information box) in Japan. No purple anywhere. I guess the idea was "feminine color for our heroine", but apart from Neptune and Nepgear, all of the other characters have color schemes that fit their consoles... but not Sega's, and they're the main characters (Neptune and her younger sister Nepgear). And on that note, yeah, Nepgear probably looks even less like a Game Gear than Neptune does a Sega Neptune, 32X, or Genesis (the Neptune being a 32X/Genesis hybrid system that was never released, of course).
I know, most people don't care about this one bit, but darnit, if you're trying to do videogame consoles as characters, and you've got some degree of accuracy in all of your other designs, including black for Sony (obviously), white for Nintendo (fitting for the post Wii/DS-era Nintendo of the show), and green for Microsoft... but Sega being purple is just stupid. Sure, it goes well with black, Neptune's other main color, but it's not a Sega theme color! It's annoying.
Oh yeah, and where's the Sega CD? Is that a character too?
Apart from that minor quibble, my actual main complaint about the show is about the incredibly creepy nature of some plot elements in both episodes so far. Both elements have some pseudo-rape elements to them. In the first episode, Neptune and Nepgear, along with two other minor characters (videogame company-based), get attacked by an army of slimes. They fight most of them off, but get overwhelmed, and before one of the minor characters kills all the slimes, there's some requisite "girls getting covered in slime" stuff. Then in episode two, a villain kidnaps Rom and Ram, aka the young twin girls who represent the Nintendo DS, and starts picking them up (clothed) and licking them with a long tongue, saying how young girls are the best, etc, etc. It's really, really messed up stuff. Any much more of THAT and I'm through with this series.
Even if I was to ignore that element of the show, though, which I can't, this still isn't anything that reaches average. The characters are bland and generic, the stories are average, the main character is your usual "kind of stupid but competent when it matters" lead type that I've never liked very much, etc etc. So yeah, this show is a disappointment. I'm only still watching because of the whole "videogame consoles as characters" thing, considering how much I love games.
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